Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah
KUCHING: The government should put more efforts in creating awareness of the danger of excessive alcohol consumption instead of imposing age limit on it.
Assistant Minister of Youth Development Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said this was because the public had seen many accidents and social problems related to excessive consumption of alcohol.
“The government must find ways to educate the public against consuming this stuff (alcohol). It’s not just about putting an age limit and taking pride in it but more on creating awareness of the danger of excessive drinking of alcohol which is bad to one’s health.
“Instead of putting an age limit, the government should come up with measures on how to totally have an alcohol consumption free society,” he said when asked to comment yesterday on a news report that Malaysia, in its filing to the
World Trade Organisation (WTO), planned to raise the minimum age for alcohol consumption from 18 to 21.
The Assistant Minister of Housing also said Malaysia, being a multi-racial and multi-religious country, should show the world that it can go forward and be progressive in business and trade despite being an Islamic nation without curtailing the rights of non-Muslims to do business, including brewing of alcohol.
It was reported by AFP that Malaysia, in its filing to WTO on Tuesday, aimed to prevent underage drinking and limit the accessibility of alcohol to high risk groups, though there was no mention on when the change would take place.
In addition to this, Malaysia also plans additional labelling requirements for alcohol products to warn about their effect on health.
The filing to the WTO invites other members of the global trading body to comment on its plans within the next 60 days.